


Abandoned

by Quillpaw



Category: Warframe
Genre: (do you still have to tag apostasy prologue spoilers or does everyone already kinda know?), Gen, Lotus really only mentioned, Male Operator - Freeform, spoilers for apostasy prologue and sort of beyond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-28 23:29:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16251998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quillpaw/pseuds/Quillpaw
Summary: The Man in the Wall offers an unwelcome warning in the Operator's moment of grief. (A very short rewrite and addition to the ending cutscene of Apostasy Prologue)





	Abandoned

  _I will not abandon you again, Margulis._

 He staggered forward, reaching out as she so delicately clasped her hand with her captor's, as she turned from him without a single backwards glance. He tried to call out to her, tried to warn her, but his voice failed him in the deafening silence of the chamber. It felt as if he were running in molasses, as if he were being crushed under gravity three times too strong. The shockwave that shoved him backwards was cold and callous, a dismissing gesture without even the courtesy of acknowledgement. A flash of light, a burst of mental static, and they were gone. Even as the unbearable pressure lifted, his legs still felt heavy and weak, and it took a tremendous effort to stagger and collapse before her abandoned helmet. He reached for it uncertainly, as if it might disintegrate at his touch, but once his hands wrapped around the cool metal, he clutched it to his chest as a drowning man clutched a life ring.

 "What about me?" His voice trembled and cracked, and his question echoed mockingly back at him. He sounded like a child. He _felt_ like a child. For the first time since the Zariman, he felt _alone_. He pressed his forehead to her helmet, feeling hot tears begin to streak down his face. "What about me?!"

_"She's not coming back, kiddo."_

 Even absorbed in grief, his training did not fail him. He was on his feet again in an instant, spinning towards the voice's source with the helmet clasped desperately in one arm and the other already aiming his amp. His own reflection grinned back at him, watching him with bright, empty eyes. He quickly jerked his head back and broke eye contact, willing the apparition to vanish.

  _"Just because she abandoned you without a second thought doesn't mean I'm so easy to get rid of,"_ the Man in the Wall purred. _"I'll always be here for you, kiddo. You're better off without her anyway."_

 "Shut up!" He'd sworn not to engage with the figure– whether hallucination or manifestation, he didn't care– but he was beyond his breaking point. "Ballas– did something to her! I'll find her. Save her! She'll come back!"

 The Man in the Wall just chuckled. It closed the distance between them in a single fluid motion, reaching up as if to clasp his shoulders without actually touching him. _"Look all you want,"_ it murmured in his ear. _"Just remember that I warned you. Whatever you find...you won't like it."_

 He snarled and lashed out to swat the apparition away, but his arm connected with only air. He looked down at the helmet resting in his arms, and swallowed heavily. Carefully, gently, longingly, he brought it back up to his chest, holding it close to his heart as he carried it on the long, lonely walk back to the Orbiter.


End file.
